January 20, 2011

Three months after their homes were devastated by Typhoon “Megi,” the lives of families in the northern Philippine province of Isabela are slowly returning to normal with a little help from Catholic Church workers. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines said this was due to the combined efforts of Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the National Secretariat of Social Action, Justice and Peace and Ilagan diocese’s Social Action Center. “Up to 586 families are still to receive shelter assistance in 35 villages within Sta. Isabel and San Antonio parishes,” CRS country director Joe Curry said in an article posted yesterday on CBCP News. As of January 15, beneficiaries of the assistance included 182 families in 19 villages since 101 shelters have already been completed, he said. The beneficiaries were the poorest in communities where homes were blown away by winds as powerful as 175 kilometers per hour, he added. “The transitional shelters, are built with a typhoon-resistant design, made of a timber frame and anchored in a light concrete foundation with plywood walls and galvanized iron roofing,” Curry said. The shelters were built with local skilled labor and volunteer workers from the families benefiting from the scheme. CRS, an international Catholic relief group, said it hopes to finish all 645 shelters by April this year. Meanwhile, the government’s disaster response agency said recent heavy rain in the central and southern Philippines have killed 60 people and caused 1.8 billion pesos (US$41 million) worth of damage. Related reports Fishermen fear typhoon aid fund manipulationCatholics rally aid for Philippine storm victimsChurch leaders appeal for urgent flood aid PR12939.1637

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